As Canada Post dickers with municipalities on where to place its neighbourhood mailboxes, the federal New Democrats are promising to restore door-to-door mail delivery if they form the government after the October election.
A lot of huffing and puffing could be avoided by simply scaling back home delivery to two or three times a week.
The Crown corporation is in the second year of its five-year plan to phase out door-to-door delivery in favour of clusters of neighbourhood mailboxes. The post office says the move is necessary for it to remain financially sustainable as the volume of mail declines.
The post office鈥檚 move is unpopular for two reasons: the loss of home delivery and the problem of where to put the mailboxes. Critics of the mailboxes say they attract graffiti, generate litter and jeopardize mail security.
Victoria city council, which is on record as opposing the change, is hoping to work out details of siting, installation and maintenance of the boxes.
The golden age of mail delivery is long past. While Canada Post鈥檚 volume of parcel delivery is rising, up 6.9 per cent in 2013, letter mail continues to decline in favour of electronic communications.
So it鈥檚 puzzling that the post office didn鈥檛 first try reducing the frequency of home delivery to two or three times a week. That would bring huge savings without causing undue hardship.
Canada Post鈥檚 all-or-nothing approach doesn鈥檛 make sense.
